Vivienda net-zero en Mexicali, B.C, un camino hacia las políticas energéticas en desarrollos habitacionales sustentables

Abstract

In Mexico, energy is considered one of the most important economic activities; besides constituting the main source of public inputs, the power sector contributes the PIB in a 3%; petroleum exports represent the 8 4% of the national total and the hydrocarbon taxes contribute 37% of the fiscal income. In this investigation, a thermal evaluation of two houses located in Mexicali, B.C. was made; one denominated as case base and the other as Net-Zero. First we have the house with the constructive system as the developer delivers it and the second, is a house to which insulation systems were applied, proposed by Mexican energy efficiency norm 460 (NMX-460), besides the electric home appliances of high efficiency, saving and air conditioned systems EER 14. The evaluated dwellings are medium high interest, with an approximated surface of 137 m2, the general purpose of this research consists in reducing the dwelling case base with an annual electrical consumption of 15.000 kWh to a minimum consumption (Net-Zero) of 8000 kWh, allowing to design a photovoltaic system that will serve to self supply the house; combined to this, REEP (Renewable Energy Efficiency Program) Canadian funds, that became involved in the financed test monitoring program of Net-Zero dwelling, included to this effort the CONAVI (National Commission of Dwelling) and supported with the validation and feasibility of this project in the technique-operative part by CFE (Federal Commission of Electricity) Mexicali’s subdivision. The results showed that it is possible to develop the Net-Zero house under a Mexican context, with the intention of generating energetic policies that conduct the construction of the physical system, the applied technologies, the used electric home appliances, the efficient air conditioned systems, the factor use, the characteristics of photovoltaic energy and their technicians meaning the ones in charge of interconnection to the network like the systems of bidirectional measurers applied to this type of systems. Finally the research shows the cost benefit and the reinvestment applying photovoltaic systems to a house with these characteristics and the energy policies that must be considered.